You might have heard about catfishing or ghosting but what about the age-old festive traditions of scrooging?
Yes, scrooging is an unfortunate dating trend that involves breaking up with your other half right before Christmas in order to opt out of buying them a Christmas gift. Apparently, getting scrooged seems to happen around the same time each year.
According to statisticians David McCandless and Lee Byron, more people break up on 11 December than on any other day of the year. Although the data is 10 years old, the duo investigated over 10,000 Facebook statuses from the festive period and figured out that's the day.
The results also revealed that 18-34 year-olds were the main culprits, with men (11%) more likely to dump their partner than women (7%).
While we all know someone who has done this or at least broken up with someone, former divorce lawyer Sheela Mackintosh-Stewart told the BBC that it came down to the fact that it's now easier than ever to dump someone before Christmas day:
People generally avoid in-person confrontation if they can help it. Technology makes it easy for people to send not only angry, hurtful messages to their partners, but also provides a convenient but cowardly means to dump them.
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Matters are worsened due to the added temptations and distractions available to them from social media, which puts even greater pressure on relationships, requiring couples to work doubly hard to hold them together.
Obviously, it’s a bit more complex than people just being tight. Sheela explains: “Christmas ‘Scrooging’ has become a convenient excuse to dump a partner when they don’t want to deal with the underlying issues and conflicts that are the real issues. Around this time of the year, people can become tired and exhausted, with the longer nights and shorter days making people spend more time together.
So, remember, keep those receipts handy.
